"Antagonist Group To The Rescue!" thoughts.

H-Man

Random phantom.
#1
So I'm reading 100 Mob Psycho and the thought came to me, based on the latest arc.

Where did the 'arc where the defeated antagonists return on the side of the protagonist' cliché or trope come from, at least in animé? I know it's one of those things you can't pin on Dragon Ball, where Goku's enemies becoming his allies later was a theme but never the focus of an arc in and of itself. I know it's something sufficiently popular that I can remember in several series - the latter part of One Piece's prison escape, at least one of the arcs in Beelzebub, the Gold Saints in Saint Seiya and the post-Dark Tournament contestants in Yu Yu Hakusho.

I'm wondering if there's any 'earliest' work people can think of. The specific is as I pointed out: at least one arc after their defeat, several antagonists have officially discarded their previous allegiance and are going to help the heroes for now. A single antagonist doing that does not count, and they have to happen at the same time [which is why I'm pointing out Dragon Ball does not really do that].
 

Contrabardus

Well-Known Member
#2
This has been going on since Astro Boy, which is the first Anime ever made and first aired in the mid 60's. It has numerous characters that first appeared as antagonists only to side with Astro later.

As far as it happening in Anime, it's literally been happening since the very beginning of the medium.
 
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